German II

Rating:
Summary: Nicht Schlect!
Review: By the time you're ready for this (Vol II), you should have a pretty good idea of the Pimsleur format. This CD set compliments the prior set with further practice using the informal ("Du") form and related conjugations and continues usage, comprehension, and vocabulary expansion. There are very few sets of this type available, so the competition is slim, but the Pimsleur German II set is excellent. If you've completed set I, this set is the logical next step. (If you've completed another introductory course, you may wish to purchase the Pimsleur I course, just to make sure that you have the requisite vocabulary and grammar.)

Rating:
Summary: Skip Pimsleur I, start here, but $pend more on books
Review: I generally agree that the Pimsleur series is the best audio course around, but I had to knock off a star. Here are the shortcomings: 1)You don't get very far with the language for the considerable money. Too little return for your investment. 2)Too much time is wasted on repetition of simple pronunciations. I believe much of II is too easy for someone with even one days' previous exposure to German conversation and grammar. 3)It's aggrevating to not have the spelling or conjugation of the verbs with this course. I recommend buying not only buy a bilingual dictionary to supplement this course, but also a grammar book, and 501 German Verbs by Henry Strutz. 4)Most of the voices are easily understood, but the "trainer" has an annoying nasal voice which is difficult to understand. You need speakers with golden voices for maximum comprehension. 5) When you want to review your trouble spots at the end of the course, there is not even the simplest table of contents or index to refer to for figuring out where to return! This is a serious handicap.
I recommend starting with Pimsleur II or even III if you are at all self-taught, so great is the volume-to-volume overlap between lessons. And, as I found on my recent trip to Germany, these tapes only expose you to the ideal hochdeutsch. You can't learn it all here.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Program
Review: I have now completed all the Pimsleur German lessons there are: 100 lessons, 50 hours in Levels 1, 2, 3 and German Plus. Overall, this is a fantastic program. It takes you from basic hellos, how are yous all the way through past, present and future. It helps you build a solid vocabulary and helps you understand regular conversations German. If I were in Germany today, I'm confident I could get along with no problem. Bottom line, these Pimsleur programs are the best way to learn a language on your own. I hope to try their Arabic or Japanese courses next.

Rating:
Summary: If You want to speak German as fast as possible use Pimsleur
Review: I have used Pimsleur German I, II and II and about to finish Pimsleur German Plus. The courses are great and I reccommend using them all. When followed seriously I found the courses better than private tutors and immersion classes (which I have also tried with limited success) Although I am not yet fully fluent in German I am able to communicate in general. Prior to using Pimsleur I had no background in German at all. However with Pimsleur, I learned only to speak and no grammar or reading whatsoever even when using the reading material. Therefore for those wanting to learn to read and write German I would also reccommed a good grammar book. The Themen Neu 1 and 2 workbooks seem to do the job but make sure you get the version with the English vocabulary and Grammer already in them. There also have a seperate computer based exercises which are also good. Amazon should carry these products also.

I have also tried Pimsleur for French and Mandarin Chinese and they are equally good. I just wish Pimsleur would add more advance courses as they have done for German in these two languages.

I wish Pimsleur would publish the transcripts for the audio lessons. These would be very helpful for review when not being able to repeat outloud (e.g. on a train full of people)It would also be great if Pimsleur had its own grammar and vocabulary books to accompany the audio.

I also wish Pimsleur would publish the courses on minidisc to make them lighter and more portable for travel and walking.

I have found that learning each lesson once is not sufficient. Two times is probably ideal: once in the morning and once at night. I found the pulisher's insturctions of doing only one lesson per day to be useful. However repeating the same lesson on the same day works great. Only when I have finished an entire course have I found it usefull to repeat several lessons in a row (for example on a long drive).

Overall I think Pimsluer has the best German audio learning tools. Anyone who wants to save a lot of time learning should try them. I am greatful they are available.

Rating:
Summary: Really very good, but....
Review: I used the complete Pimsleur course: I - III and German Plus. It gave me exactly what I needed--practice and confidence in conversation. It was all review for me, as I'd studied German before, a considerable amount of study on my own. I found that the cassettes were perfect for my long daily commute. I would listen to two lessons in the morning and listen to the same two in the evening. Although the course didn't really add a lot to my vocabulary and very little to my knowledge of grammar, the conversation practice was great. Especially for those like me, who have studied a lot on their own, conversation can be difficult. Practice is invaluable in breaking down what I call the brain-tongue barrier. (So many times listening to the tapes, I had the answer in my head but just couldn't get it out of my mouth in time!)

Having said that, I would hate for this course to be my introduction to German. I would hate to do this course without knowing some grammar and the principles of German pronunciation. In addition, I find that the words and phrases chosen for special help with pronunciation were not consistent. In effect, some of the simpler words were emphasized like this, but more complex words like "Dolmetscher" were breezed over in conversations. And some of the basics in vocabulary were not covered--for instance, I don't think the complete list of months was covered, and learning all seven days took quite a few lessons!

Rating:
Summary: Pimsleur is the BEST.
Review: If you want to learn a foreign language...I know of no better way than the Pimsleur approach. Effective learning demands repetition but it also requires sufficient lesson variance to force you to think in the language you want to learn. - Pimsleur does both.

The only thing that would make Pimsleur absolutely perfect would be a written list of the words contained in each lesson. I realize that the core of Pimsleur is to learn the langauge before you worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar rules, etc.....but for some of us, seeing the German word helps fix it in the mind.

I would suggest you also purchase a German/English dictionary so you can find and SEE the German words you are pronouncing.

Rating:
Summary: Serious
Review: Ok. Pimsleur II won't get you very far, is expensive ..., and is somewhat cumbersome to work with. So the rest of this review will be about how in [the world] did I get to giving it five stars. There are several ways to go about when wanting to learn a language in an audio-only manner. You can get the "Learn in your car" from Penton Overseas. You can get the audio-only course from Living Language. Or you can take Pimsleur. From the lot, Pimsleur would be the ONLY decent answer for the utter beginner, and Pimsleur II will advance you to an intermediate level in the best way. You'll simply remember everything you learned. With the other options, you will find yourself replaying the tapes a couple of times. Does any language course that is a self learning course worth this kind of money? No. That's why we have the next paragraph.

Money. First of all, by all means get it used. It is an audio course that I recommend going through only once. ... . As for used audio cassettes, well, as much as we want to hear the correct pronounciation, we have to remember - this is not Mozart, it is only recorded speech. However even if you don't find it used, you can buy it, and after completing the course, sell it ... As this is suitable for first time learning, and is too much for review purposes (perhaps the other audio-only courses will be better for review). ...

Rating:
Summary: This is simply the best and easiest way to learn German...
Review: With the Pimsleur Language method, you don't read to learn, you learn a foreign language the same way that you learned English, by listening to others and answering questions. This technique relies on interactive spoken language teaching.

This method is simply the best way to learn a foreign language. The retention of the language is far superior to any other method. I was immersed in the language and actually listening and responding in Germain without converting to English.

The Pimsleur language method is designed to be done in 30-minute sessions each day. These sessions cover vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar all in a simple memory recall method that is more fun that work.

I used this program before going to Europe, and was amazed at how easily it was to converse in the native German language while there. My previous visits to Europe were not as simple to get around as this one was because of this course.